While we all will experience it at some point in our lives, everyone grieves differently, there is no right or wrong way. Whether we want it to or not grief has a huge impact on our lives, especially our nervous system. It affects us individually as a person, it impacts our lives and relationships, and it can cause a knock-on effect on our health including problems like depression, anxiety and illnesses, if we don’t take care of ourselves. Our process to adapt to a significant loss can vary from one of us to another, the same as what comes up for us along the way is different. Many different factors in our lives can affect our journey with grief, like our beliefs and values or how we were raised. Grief doesn’t have a time line, time doesn’t know how to heal, it doesn’t make our grief any easier or help us to cope any differently. We are not just limited to feeling sad, we can feel many different emotions all at once. It’s important to know that they are not bad emotions, they are trying to speak to us just like our body does through our nervous system. Grief is like the ocean waves, emotions come in waves. They are unstoppable, but we can learn to ride them along the way. What is a holistic grief coach? I am a fellow griever and a holistic grief coach in training. As a holistic grief coach, I support you so you feel seen and heard, we develop self-regulation skills, reconnecting with your values, goals and life purpose and help you to reclaim your life. You may have tried other traditional therapies which haven’t worked for you or maybe you haven’t tried any. Sometimes for some of us who have used traditional therapies like counselling there may not be safety or a supported outcome as you talk about your grief and are triggered or re-traumatised. However, in holistic grief coaching we will acknowledge the grief together with resource which will allow your mind, body, spirit and nervous system, safety and compassion. We don’t fix our grief; we acknowledge it and bring awareness and insight to it. Accepting our journey where it is at.
